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Britain will build tens of thousands of new homes twice as quickly as normal, ministers will pledge today as they announce a £5billion find to solve the housing crisis, will be unveiled by ministers today.

Philip Hammond and Sajid Javid will also set out changes in planning rules to encourage more building on brownfield sites and in derelict shopping centres.

Mr Hammond, the Chancellor, will refuse to say when he expects Britain to have paid down the deficit, after scrapping a target of 2020 set by his predecessor George Osborne.

A Cabinet split is opening up with Liam Fox, the international development secretary, suggesting that Mr Hammond should set a date for the deficit to be cleared after 2020.

Under the plans, the Government will a £3 billion Home Building Fund to help small family firms to build 25,000 new homes by 2020 and up to 225,000 in the longer term.

A separate £2billion loan fund will pay for a further 15,000 new homes by 2020 on surplus public sector land with extra cash, the ministers will say.

The cash will be used to encourage builders to use more modern building techniques which can deliver homes twice as quickly as conventional builders.

The ministers said the cash would allow builders “to build more houses, more quickly, in the places people want to live”.

The housing building programme will breathe "new life back into our high streets" and "abandoned shopping centres” with a new “de facto” presumption in favour of housing on brownfield land in planning rules.

Mr Javid will say: “Tackling housing shortfall isn’t about political expediency. It’s a moral duty. And it’s one that falls on all of us.

“Not just in Parliament, but in business, in local government and in our communities. So my message today is clear: it’s time to get building.”

Mr Hammond said: “There has been a housing shortage in this country for decades, and this Government is determined to take action to tackle it.

“We’ll use all the tools at our disposal to accelerate housebuilding and ensure that over time, housing becomes more affordable, that is why we are committing £2 billion of additional investment towards this.”

In the 20 years from 1969 to 1989 over 4.5million homes were built in England. Yet between 1992 and 2012, fewer than 2.9 million were completed.

Last week, housing minister Gavin Barwell said that by maintaining current building rates “then by 2025 the house of the average owner occupier in the South East will increase in value by £1,000 a week”.